Device Hints vs. FreeBSD 4.10 Release

[Matthew Seaman]

On Wed, Jun 02, 2004 at 06:06:14PM +0000, Lonnie Santella wrote:
> I've switched from FreeBSD 5.2 to FreeBSD 4.10 Release. I've lost the 
> ability to edit the /boot/device.hints file, since it no longer exists in 
> ver 4.10. This is critical to me since I need to add the mouse flag:
> 
> hint.psm.0.flags="0x100"
> 
> This turns off the sync check which is what causes my mouse to jump all 
> over the screen when I wiggle it. It's a PS/2 mouse - but plugged in via a 
> Avocent 8-port KVM switch.
> 
> Is there another way to implement this type of port flag?

Yes, but you have to compile a custom kernel.  Instructions for doing
that are here:

    http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig-building.html

What you need to do is take your kernel configuration file, and find
the line that says:

    device          psm0    at atkbdc? irq 12

and modify it to read:

    device          psm0    at atkbdc? irq 12 flags 0x100

If you think that the 5.x device.hint line is suspiciously similar to
that bit of kernel config, then you are right.  The 5.x 'device.hints'
mechanism is an interface to allow you to change such settings in the
kernel without actually having to recompile.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       26 The Paddocks
                                                      Savill Way
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Marlow
Tel: +44 1628 476614                                  Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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